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Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Bankster - Review

Ravi Subramanian - 'Meet the John Grisham of banking' as the Wall Street Journal puts it. My take - on the right path but not there yet.

This is my first read from Ravi Subramanian's collection of books. There are some things I loved about the book and some things that just didn't jell with me as a reader.

First, lets talk about the book in general. The Bankster is a story (or a group of stories that wind together into one) that teaches you how the big fish in the banking world work. It talks about how common man is duped of his life savings in the hands of trusted bankers. It talks about a world of bankers rooted with the corruption and wrong doings of gangsters. It is a roller coaster that travels through the jungles of Angola, to the forests of Kerala, the city of Vienna and to the suburbs of Mumbai.

The best thing about this book is that even if you are not interested in finance or the banking world, you will like to read on, and yet never get bored with the details. You will learn a bit about the gangster world, about gold trade, and the turmoil of preventing a nuclear outburst.

The language is simple and you can read through without needing to pick up a dictionary, which I must say is a huge plus point in drawing the reader and keeping him hooked.

The only drawback I found was the little Hindi dropped in casually. It just hinders the readers flow even if you have a command over the language, it breaks the fluidity of dialogue.

The characters in the book lack a certain depth because of which I as a reader could not sympathise or connect with any of them. There are little incidents, little pieces of dialogue that can bring a tear to your eye but nothing emotionally catching throughout.

Overall I would say it is a book which you wish to finish till the end to find out what is going to happen. Each individual narrative holds your attention. To reach a John Grisham status in terms of writing all I can say is a little more depth to each character is required.

I would like to read other books from Ravi Subramanian - so I would say the book has impressed me and I would recommend a read to all fiction fans.